Consumers cut back on small pleasures

Consumer confidence plummeted in February to its lowest since February
2003, which was just before the U.S. invaded Iraq. The Conference
Board’s much-watched index of consumer confidence fell to 75 from 87.3
in January, the group reports. Most consumers actually feel more pain from small cuts than from
big ones. You miss your daily java jolt a lot more than, say, a new car
you’d only hoped to buy sometime this year.